Episode 4 of "Elsbeth" kicks off with a fiery argument between two women. Lainey, furious, confronts her high-priced matchmaker, Margo, accusing her of failing to secure a suitable match. In a fit of anger, Lainey banishes Margo from her home, warning her that she has until the end of the year to find her a husband or face the revelation that Margo Clarke is a fraud.
As Margo storms out of the apartment, she finds herself on the receiving end of a policeman's ire as he issues her a ticket. Unable to contain her fury, Margo lashes out at the officer, landing herself in jail. Inside the facility, she greets a fellow inmate in the adjacent cell, unaware of the drama that awaits her in the coming months.
Six months later, a man unexpectedly proposes to Lainey. Then, one year later, a man arrives at Margo's lavish Hamptons home with a bombshell revelation. He informs Margo that he is reluctant to file for divorce as they had previously agreed. Claiming that he hates constantly arguing with Lainey and has fallen in love with her, he declares his intention to confess their arrangement to her.
Panic-stricken, Margo fears they could be arrested for fraud. In a moment of desperation, she strikes the man, Gabriel Erwood, on the head with a cupid statue and dumps his lifeless body along with the murder weapon into the ocean.
Captain Wagner presents Elsbeth and Kaya with a photo of the murdered Gabriel. He explains that Lainey, a friend, reported her husband missing and assigns them to investigate the matter, showing Lainey that the police are taking her concerns seriously. As a courtesy, Kaya and Elsbeth visit Lainey, who leads them to Margo's house.
During their interrogation, Margo insists that living with Lainey was unbearable and that Gabriel had expressed a desire to leave her during their conversations. Meanwhile, Elsbeth notices the missing carpet and the absence of the woody scent from the fireplace, clues that don't quite add up. Margo casually mentions that she had requested a new curtain from a local antique store, disposing of the one she didn't like.
Kaya requests to view the CCTV footage around Margo's house, but it only reveals Gabriel's car driving out of the premises. The car's presence near a bus station prompts Elsbeth and Kaya to return to Lainey's for answers. As they leave, they encounter a masseuse team that Gabriel had hired for their anniversary, the previous day. Elsbeth and Kaya exchange suspicious glances, both entertaining the possibility of foul play.
Elsbeth briefs Captain Wagner on their findings, but he remains skeptical, believing there's not enough evidence to justify searching Margo's house. Amidst their discussion, the Captain's wife invites Elsbeth to a fundraising gala, casually mentioning that Gabriel seemed deeply smitten with Lainey and wouldn't have left her. Captain Wagner informs Elsbeth that he'll assign a detective to the case only if they can produce credible evidence. Determined to unearth the truth, Elsbeth tries to persuade Kaya to join her in investigating how Gabriel's car ended up at the bus stop, but Kaya is pressed for time and must proceed alone.
On her return journey to Hampton’s, Elsbeth engaged in a lively conversation with the bus driver. He revealed that Gabriel had never boarded his vehicle, prompting her to inquire of other drivers if they had sighted him. At the antique store, a startling revelation awaited her. She discovered that Margo had ordered a rug, but curiously, she desired it to be the same hue as the one she had discarded. This contradicted what Margo had previously told her.
Fate intervened as Elsbeth unexpectedly encountered Margo within the store. Her suspicions deepened when she noticed Margo carrying a fireplace cleaner. Margo explained that it was due to her allergies, aggravated by the ashes. Elsbeth mentioned the police investigation into Gabriel's disappearance, piquing Margo's interest. She invited Elsbeth for a stroll, using the opportunity to insist that Gabriel had expressed his desire to leave Lainey and highlighted her volatile temper.
As they walked, they happened upon some fishermen, and Elsbeth politely greeted them. At the NYPD, Elsbeth eagerly shared her findings with Kaya at her desk. However, their conversation was interrupted by Captain Wagner and Detective Darren from Suffolk County PD. Suffolk PD had discovered Gabriel's body, washed ashore about a mile from Georgica Beach. It appeared that he had been struck in the head with a blunt object and then dumped into the ocean.
The detective showed them a piece of brass extracted from Gabriel's head, indicating that the weapon used was made of brass. A more startling revelation followed: the victim's true identity was Dennis Pagano, hailing from Teaneck, New Jersey. Despite the intrigue surrounding the case, Captain Wagner cautioned Elsbeth and Kaya to leave the investigation to Suffolk PD.
As Elsbeth and Kaya discussed how the police would likely focus their suspicions on Lainey, she stormed into the NYPD, furious that she was being treated as a suspect. She insisted that Margo must have known Gabriel was a fraud, given her meticulousness in conducting background checks. Kaya uncovered a crucial lead: Pagano's girlfriend. She provided insights into the victim, revealing that he had broken up with her days prior, claiming he was in love with his boss, Lainey.
The girlfriend mentioned a file cabinet, and within it, Elsbeth and Kaya discovered receipts for tattoo removal, fitness training, and vocal dialect coaching. These clues pointed to Margo's meticulous grooming of Pagano to fit Lainey's ideal partner. Even arrest records showed that Margo and Pagano had been booked at the same police station at the same time. They pursued this lead and confronted Margo, who did not deny the fraud but her confession fell short of justifying an arrest.
However, on their way out, Elsbeth noticed that Cupid, the statue, was missing from Margo's house. Margo explained it away, claiming she had put it in storage due to her aversion to clutter. But Elsbeth's suspicions remained, and she vowed to uncover the truth behind Gabriel's disappearance and Margo's secrets.
Elsbeth earnestly petitioned Wagner to dispatch a search team to scour the locale where the body was discovered in hopes of locating the Cupid statue. However, Wagner refused to authorize such an operation. Frustrated, Elsbeth and Kaya turned to Lainey for insights regarding the Cupid. Lainey revealed that she had indeed procured the statue for Elsbeth, but it was a mere imitation, crafted not from bronze but brass.
Meanwhile, Margo was busy tying up loose ends. She urgently requested Arthur from the antique shop to procure the authentic bronze Cupid for her promptly and paid a hefty sum of 60,000 for it. She then invited Elsbeth to her mansion, ostensibly to show her a potential date for the upcoming gala. As expected, Elsbeth's gaze fell upon the Cupid, but she remained unconvinced. She recalled that the Cupid in the photograph had borne three arrows, whereas this replacement boasted only two. Furthermore, the new Cupid was indeed crafted from bronze, in stark contrast to the brass statue Lainey had gifted her.
Margo, believing she had secured a victory, gloated that since the brass Cupid was nowhere to be found in her house, there was no means to corroborate Elsbeth's theory. Little did she know, two fishermen rang the doorbell at that moment. Elsbeth had dispatched them back to the scene of the crime with a metal detector, and they had unearthed the chipped brass Cupid. Detective Darren arrived shortly after and placed Margo under arrest.
Later, at the fundraising Gala, Elsbeth and Kaya mingled among the crowd. Several detectives expressed keen interest in learning how Kaya had solved the murder mystery. Elsbeth's handler contacted her for an update on Wagner, but she reported having nothing new to share as she had just arrived at the party.
That evening, Wagner's wife confided to him that she found Elsbeth charming and engaging. She seemed genuinely interested in the foundation and Captain Wagner himself, asking numerous questions. Wagner responded cynically, noting that it was merely Elsbeth's modus operandi when pursuing a case. Suddenly, a realization dawned on the Captain, and his eyes widened at the episode's conclusion, leaving the audience on a tantalizing cliffhanger.
